New York Rangers: A history of game 7’s

The New York Rangers head into another do-or-die elimination game in the final game of a series.  They go into the game knowing that they can prevail, building on their Game Seven overtime win over the Penguins in the First Round.

Beyond that win, past history really doesn’t have an impact on the current team, but it’s fun to take a look back at franchise history to see how they have done when they have extended a series to the ultimate game.

Game 7’s

In the long history of the Rangers, they have played 16 seven-game series.  Overall, their record is 10-6.  Here are the highlights.

• Overall record 10-6.
• Overall road record is 2-5.
• Overall home record is 8-1.
• Before 1987, the Rangers lost all four times they went to seven games including a triple overtime loss in 1939 to Boston and a double overtime loss in 1950 to the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final.
• Their ultimate games of their first four seven-game series were all played on road and they lost them all.
• The Rangers record at Madison Square Garden in seventh games is 8-1 with the only loss in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015 to Tampa.
• Since 1987, when the league went to seven games for all playoff series, the Rangers record in 10-2.
• Since 1987 the Rangers record on the road in seventh games is 2-1 and they have won two in a row.
• The Rangers have gone to overtime in Game Seven’s five times and have won their last three times after losing the first two.
• They have gone to seven games twice in the Stanley Cup Final, losing in 1950 to Detroit on the road and beating Vancouver in 1994 at home.  They also went to five games in a best-of-five Stanley Cup Final in 1937, losing 3-0 to Detroit on the road.

Ancient history

In the early days of the NHL, the first few rounds were two-game, total-goal series.  The Rangers played 16 of those two-game series, going 9-4-3 in the second games.  Their overall record in two game series was 11-5 with a home record of 4-4 and a road record of 7-1.

The first time they went to the last game of a series that wasn’t a total-goal series was the 1928 Stanley Cup Final when they beat the Montreal Maroons 2-1 in Game Five on the road.

The next time was Game Five of the 1937 Stanley Cup Final when lost to the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 also on the road.

The 1930’s concluded with two absolute heartbreakers.  In the 1938 Quarter-Finals, the Rangers lost the ultimate Game Five at home to the New York American by the score of 3-2 in quadruple overtime.

In the 1939 Semi-Finals, they lost Game Seven to the Detroit Red Wings on the road in triple overtime by a 2-1 score.

In 1941, it was a 3-2 loss in Game Three of the best-of-three Quarter-Finals to the Red Wings.

The next series was in 1950 when the Rangers lost Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final to the Detroit Red Wings in double overtime in a road game.

From 1951 until 1986, the Rangers extended series to the last game six times, winning only once.  They lost the last game of a three-game series to the Islanders and Buffalo, lost the ultimate game of five game series to Islanders in OT in 1985 while beating the Flyers in 1986.  They also went the full seven-games twice, losing to the Black Hawks and Flyers.   All of those ultimate games were on the road, except the infamous 1975 preliminary series loss to the Islanders on J.P. Parise’s overtime goal at the Garden.

Elimination games

The Rangers have a record of 38-55-2 in elimination games in franchise history.  That includes those two-game total goal series.  That record is pretty bad because the Rangers were so awful for so long.

Looking at the last decade, from 2012 to this season, their record is a stellar 16-6 in elimination games with the toughest losses in the 2012 and 2015 Conference Finals and the 2014 Final.

Of course, they are riding a four game winning streak in elimination games this playoff season.

Good signs

If you are looking for good luck signs, here is a significant one.   In the second round of the playoffs, the Rangers have extended a series to seven games six times with a winning 4-2 record and they have a four game winning streak.

So, in the Rangers’ favor in Game Sevens is an overall winning record, a Second Round positive record and winning streak and a two-game road winning streak.  That plus the recent memory of a Game Seven overtime win over the Pens should provide enough positive vibes to propel them to improve their Game Seven record.

We’ll know in just a few hours.